Monday, 24 April 2017

Tennis Elbow Treatments

Tendon injuries are very common and if not treated, they can be painful and in most cases affect mobility due to the stiffness and inflammation. Tendon injuries occur near the joint such as the shoulder, the ankle the knee, and elbow. This is why we are going to talk about tennis elbow treatments.

A gradual wear and tear of tendons are referred to as Tendinopathy, which includes both inflammation and microtears – tiny tears in and around the tendon due to overuse or aging.

Anyone can suffer this injury in their daily activity, however, this injury is very common amongst sports personalities such as athletes, golfers, and body builders because they tend to exert this area making the same motions over and over again.

Tendinopathy symptoms are:

Pain when using the tendon

Stiffness during the night and when you get up in the morning

The area feels tender, appears red, feels warm and inflamed

A crunchy sound when using the tendon

Tennis Elbow Treatments

Also known as Lateral Epicondylitis in the medical field, is a tendon injury that is experienced by people who repetitively use their forearm such as butchers, carpenters, assembly line workers, cooks and, even playing musical instruments. But like its name, it is an injury commonly diagnosed with people who play tennis. The pain occurs on the tendon and the Extensor Carpi Radialis (ECRB) muscle of the forearm.

Although Tennis Elbow may heal on its own when you give it ample time to rest, when left untreated the tears on the extensor muscle can lead to severe inflammation and chronic pain, which would make it painful to lift even the lightest things. This would prove difficult for a tennis player to grip a racket let alone use a backhand movement. Most likely a person will need to seek tennis elbow treatments in order to gain full use.

Tennis Elbow Treatments: The Standard

While you can be able to alleviate some of the Tennis Elbow pain by resting the arm and using ice packs on the area as often as possible, however, if it becomes increasingly difficult to lift or grip things and the area is too sore and painful to touch, you need to seek treatment, which includes:

Having an X-ray, Ultrasound or an MRI scan, which is more effective and will give a more detailed information on the elbow injury.

Pain Medication such as anti-inflammatory drugs or steroids Injections.

Use of forearm splint brace or cast to hold the tendon in place.

Tennis Elbow Invasive Surgery.

Alternatives Fir Tennis Elbow Treatments

Acupuncture: Tiny needles are inserted into certain pressure points to break down scar tissue and stimulate the release of the body’s natural painkillers – Endorphins in the muscles.

Active Release Technique: A manual hand therapy that breaks scar tissue, while the muscle and joints are taken through the natural range of motions, thus freeing the nerve and restoring normal motion.

Prolotherapy where a sugar solution is injected to degenerated tendon, tricking the body that a new injury has occurred and in response the body increases blood supply to the area, promoting tissue regeneration.